King YHWH is holy
Like today’s super-rich, ancient kings distanced themselves from the masses beneath them. So everyone expected the King of the universe, in his holiness, to do the same. But God’s idea of holiness differs radically from ours.
1 YHWH reigns—
let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned between the cherubim—
let the earth quake!
2 YHWH is mighty in Zion
exalted far above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise our majestic
awe-inspiring God:
he is holy!
4 Mighty King, passionate about justice
you’ve established what’s fair
and done only what’s just and right
to Jacob’s descendants.
5 Exalt YHWH our God as king
bow low before his footstool—
he is holy!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests
and Samuel another who called on his name.
They cried out to YHWH
and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud
and they did what he said
keeping the laws he gave them.
8 YHWH our God
you answered their prayers
and forgave their sins
yet you punished them when they did wrong.
9 Exalt YHWH our God as king
and worship at his holy mountain
because YHWH our God is holy!
The psalmist* views the proclamation of YHWH’s kingship as cause for the earth to quake and earth’s peoples to tremble. What’s so awe-inspiring about God? Though utterly transcendent, he’s powerfully present, manifesting his presence between the ark of the covenant’s cherubim in Jerusalem. While transcendence and immanence don’t usually go together, YHWH is a one-of-a-kind God: though exalted over all, he rescues those who call on him for help and forgives their sins.
Unlike any of his rivals, this all-powerful king loves justice, cares for the oppressed, and has given his people a law that demands the same of them. All his dealings with his people have been just and right. So he asks nothing of them that he doesn’t unfailingly give them. Again, all this sets him apart as holy.
Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, were three prophet-priests God used to intercede for his people before Israel had kings. God heard them and spared his people, not because these men were perfect. In fact, everyone knew they were flawed. God heard them because he’s merciful. We see another aspect of his holiness here, his ethical wholeness. Either we mortals forgive or we judge and often veer back and forth between the two. God knew from the first what to expect of Jacob and his descendants. But in his wholeness, God encompasses both mercy and judgment—with no conflict whatsoever. And this allows him to be totally committed to redeeming the lost.
The psalmist is astounded that this God, who revealed himself as the Holy One of Israel, is sovereign over the universe and hears his people’s prayers. Centuries later God revealed this more fully in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and sending of the Spirit. Though the psalmist couldn’t see that part of the picture, she knows there could be only one true response to God’s holiness, that the world bow low in worship before him.
Prayer:
You determined to redeem the Israelites, God, because your holiness isn’t avoidance of sinners so much as a commitment to show mercy while judging justly—bearing our sins, no matter the cost. I exalt you, Lord! There’s no one like you! Make me holy as you are holy, I pray. Amen.
In your free moments today, meditate on these words:
Exalt YHWH our God as king
bow low before his footstool—
he is holy!
* I imagine the psalmist here as a woman of faith, like Miriam, Deborah, Hanna, or the Virgin Mary (see further, my answer to the question: Who wrote the psalms?).
